The Ancient Forest of Arden – Source of Inspiration for

William Shakespeare and JRR Tolkien

by SC Skillman

the setting for Shakespeare s play As You Like It and exerted a powerful influence on the English imagination, not least inspiring JRR Tolkien for The Old Forest in The Lord of the Rings Shakespeare’s Arden is a nostalgic, mythic version of the historical Ancient Forest of Arden. Shakespeare used forest settings, sometimes magical, in many of his plays.

The ancient Forest of Arden has now largely disappeared, but pockets of trees, field boundaries and several ‘mighty oaks’ proclaim the heart of the original forest. Here, Shakespeare’s Arden can be glimpsed. The Old Forest of JRR Tolkien’s imagination also represents his vision of a vast area of mighty trees which had been subjected to deforestation – just like the Forest of Arden – with only a small area remaining to the east of the Shire.

The English Forest of Arden stretched from Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire to Tamworth in Staffordshire. Branches of the Shakespeare family lived in Arden villages such as Temple Balsall, Packwood, Baddesley Clinton and Snitterfield; and, of course, William Shakespeare’s own mother Mary carried the family name of Arden. However, even as he wrote, Shakespeare was looking back to romanticized versions of the Forest as it had formerly existed, covering a huge swathe of land, the haunt of bears and wolves; for, during his life it was subject to deforestation and enclosure. Shake-

The Old Forest of Middle-earth was one of the few remains of the vast primordial forests which covered most of Eriador before the Second Age, being its northern edge. What became known as the Old Forest was what survived the deforestation by the Númenóreans and the wars against Sauron.

But back here in present-day Warwickshire, many of our remaining hedgerows are medieval, some perhaps a thousand years old. The presence of woodland indicator plants makes it possible to date the hedgerows: plants such as native bluebell, primrose, and wood anemone; and woody species including hazel and smallleaved lime.

In Warwickshire we may find Ryton Wood, ‘an ancient woodland that has been wooded since at least 1600 and has history going back to at least medieval times.’

A spokesperson for the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust told me: ‘The fact that small leaved limes are present indicates the woodlands’ age as they were once a very common species in woodlands but have since declined considerably.’

The ancient forest is commemorated in Warwickshire place names that end in ‘ley’ or ‘leigh’ which denote a clearing in the forest. Places such as Hampton-in-Arden and Henley-inArden remind us of their heritage in the ancient Forest which Shakespeare used as the wild setting for his imagination to roam.

In recent years in the village of Dorsington, a visionary and eccentric wealthy landowner, Felix Dennis, acted on his dream of bringing na- tive broadleaf trees back to the landscape by planting a ‘joined-up’ woodland that would provide vital green corridors for wildlife as well as a light and airy place for everyone to enjoy. As a poet himself, Dennis no doubt appreciated that the Forest of Arden was the setting for Shakespeare’s comedy As You Like It. Felix planted the first small wood near his home in 1996. His vision was to plant at least 300 acres per year. The forest is mainly in South Warwickshire and stretches from the ancient Forest of Arden to the edge of the Vale of Evesham. Following Felix’s death in 2014, many more trees have been planted. At the time of writing, just twenty-three per cent of the way towards their 30,000-acre goal, the Heart of England Forest is already the largest new native broadleaf woodland in England.

(Taken from ‘Illustrated Tales of Warwickshire’ by SC Skillman published by Amberley Publishing April 2022)

SC Skillman was born in Orpington, Kent. She studied English Literature at Lancaster University, and was a production secretary with the BBC. Later she lived in Australia. She has now settled in Warwick. She writes psychological, paranormal and mystery fiction and non-fiction. She is a member of the Society of Authors and the Association of Christian Writers. Her non-fiction books on local history are published by Amberley and include Paranormal Warwickshire and Illustrated Tales of Warwickshire; her next book, A-Z of Warwick, will be released later this year (2023).